8/30/15

I don’t get
an opportunity to watch a 4pm game while, at the same time, write a blog post
about that game… but I do have that opportunity today (Saturday) so here goes…

First thing
I wanted to point out was something I found written pre-game, on Twitter, by
Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo:

Robinson Cano:
.275/.321/.425, 14 HR

Wilmer Flores:
.266/.298/.416, 14 HR

Cano makes 24 million dollars a year.
Flores makes $513,543.

Hmm.

It’s no big
secret that anyone involved with the Mets would like to see better relief
pitching as we head into September. Adam Rubin is
reporting that the Mets are currently trying to work a deal with a National
League team for someone that can make a difference in September. Light a candle
folks.

Marc Carig ‏@MarcCarig - FWIW doesn’t sound like the reliever is
K-Rod. Doesn’t seem to be much effort to move him at the moment.

Well, it turned out that the
pitcher that was claimed was LHP Marc Rzepczynski from
the San Diego Padres… 2015 record: Cleveland, 45-appearances, 4.43… San Diego,
15-appearances, 6.14. his is an upgrade?

And then, that went up in smoke and the Mets traded pitchers Matt Koch and Miller Diaz to the Arizona Diamondbacks for their ex-closer, Addison Reed. The 26-year old LHRP has been mending in AAA-Reno (PCL) going 1.74 in 11 appearances.

I watched Travis d’Arnaud walk in the first inning and I just
have to say that it looks like he is becoming the premier player in the R.A. Dickey trade, something we just automatically gave
to Noah Syndergaard. His previous seven day stat
line going into this game was .429/.538/.905/1.443 and he’s still only 26 years
old.

We talk all
the time about acquiring free agents like Yoenis
Cespedes, but timely trades like this one, and quality player
development like Michael Conforto and Wilmer Flores, will make it much easier for this team
to remain a winner for years to come.

One more
thing about the first inning… the Mets may not have scored a run, but they did
cause Boston’s starter Joe Kelly to pitch 30
pitches. We’ll see how much this comes into play as the game goes on.

(as we came
to learn later in the game, it didn’t)

An
observation early in the top of the fourth inning… Jacob
deGrom is throwing a masterful game, similar to the six innings Matt Harvey threw on Friday. The Mets seem to be
getting back into old habits of leaving runners (especially leadoff hits) on
base and relying on home runs for runs. It’s got to be very frustrating for
guys like Harvey that have pitched so many + games that resulted in either a
loss or a no decision.

It’s a shame
that the Mets couldn’t produce a better result for the second largest crowd of
the season. This game just didn’t develop and giving up three runs shouldn’t
constitute such an easy victory at this point of the season. Two really bad
home loses to a team they shouldn’t be losing to.

Did the Bartolo Colon relief experiment work? Well, in my
book, it sure did if Juan Lagares was playing
CF. You would have had strikeout, fly out to deep center, and strikeout. We’re
going to learn real soon if he makes the playoff roster.

I knew going in that Boston was a last place team. But for some reason I knew the Mets would have a problem with them.

At first, I thought a 7 game winning streak was great, especially with the pitching we had lined up for this series. Then a feeling came over me for some reason. It being Boston, with their offense, coming to town. Don't think teams aren't starting to elevate their games when they come to the big city.

People say that even the worst teams play better when facing the Yankees in NY. Now that the Mets are back, that's going to be the case with them in Queens.

I posted last week not to sleep on the Sox, they have some excellent young bats and more on the way. They should have pulled an Alderson and stayed away from Panda and Hanley, but if they can add some pitching, they are going to be in the mix with Cubs and Mets starting next year. Anon Joe F

Crazy how many years that Cano has left on his contract. We can argue all day about the contracts if guys like Colon, granderson, cuddyer and even jason bay, but they are/were all for 4 yrs or less.... I remember some Mets fans (don't believe many macks mets people) ddemanding on social media that Mets make a statement by signing Cano. Imagine that now.

To paraphrase Bob Dylan, where has all our offense gone? Hopefully it returns today. I've been saying for a long time that it made sense to me to send in a starter for an inning of relief on his throw day. We should do it more often. It may not be that necessary to take the load off the pen as rosters expand, but it could give us our best chance to ensure a quality inning. I can't imagine Lagares being left off the post season roster. His glove is just too valuable. Reed looks like a good 7th inning option. His numbers since returning from AAA are fine. Small sample but I hope it's meaningful. I was looking for a reunion with K-Rod (come home, all is forgiven) but I guess it is not to be.